Monday, July 17, 2006

Why I Heart Superman

But first, the latest highlights...I helped stain a porch today and it actually looks prit-ty good, so I now fear that I will become a wood-nerd in addition to the comic-nerd, sci-fi nerd, and cinephile titles that I already hold...Blueberries are still in the lead as my totally-favourite summer fruit, but watermelon is closing in...Gremlins 2 is funnier than I remember (and I dare you to watch Gizmo dance to Fats Domino's 'I'm Ready' and not join in)...my almost-8-yr-old niece, Rylee is addicted to trollz.com and tried to start her own blog the other day before her mom figured out what was going on - yes, nip that in the bud right now before she decodes The Matrix and figures out the truth...the jury's still out on the dancing with long(er) hair vs. dancing with short hair debate - while it feels sexier to flip the tresses around, there's nothing stingray-whipping me in the eyes or getting stuck in my lipgloss now...and this just in: Boys STILL suck! Mostly. ;) Not sucking: the scene on 'Family Guy' in the Poltergeist spoof episode where Stewie covers Phil Collins (I cried), Bryan Singer, whom I want to hug (director of SupermanReturns), and Hitler Cats (again with the crying): http://freshpics.blogspot.com/2006/06/hitler-cats_08.htmlNow on to Kal-El..In the 'old days' people actually used to clap at the the end of a film if they'd enjoyed it. I miss that. There have been times when I've braved it and sometimes been joined by more than a few others, which is a particularly heady feeling, not unlike the group euphoria you feel at a really amazing concert. And sometimes what you're watching onscreen is so riveting, so mesmerizing that you simply forget to care. That's what happened to me last Wednesday. I went in not expecting to be disappointed at least, mainly due to the fact that Bryan Singer was directing and he'd already shown me two pretty kick-ass X-Men films. But I was blown away. Truly. 'Animated' doesn't even cover my reactions to this film. I gasped, laughed, clapped, shuddered, made erratic hand motions and most surprisingly, I cried. More than once, in fact. Not only was it more moving than I would have expected from a 'comic-book movie', but it was funny, smart, engaging, and made me wonder. I love that. I even enjoyed Kate Bosworth's Lois Lane and I'm not usually a fan. Kevin Spacey's Lex Luthor and his henchmen were especially hateful and who would've thought a kid from Iowa with a mere soap opera on his resume would prove to so worthily super-sede Christopher Reeve. Wow. Heroes fascinate us. It's why we read comics and always cheer for the good guy. Because he is strong and brave and will always save us..if he can. And let's face it - it's a pretty thankless job most of the time. So, why do we still love Superman after 70-odd years and countless reincarnations? Because sometimes an alien can be more human than any of us.Superman Returns gets *****